Bradley Manning apologizes for hurting US at Wikileaks sentencingThu, 15 Aug, 2013
| Posted By: The Times Of Earth (TOE)

U.S. Army Private First Class Bradley Manning enters the courtroom for day four of his court martial at Fort Meade, Maryland, June 10, 2013.

US soldier Bradley Manning has apologised to a military court for giving war logs and diplomatic secrets to the WikiLeaks website three years ago, the biggest breach of classified data in the nation's history.

"I am sorry that my actions hurt people. I'm sorry that they hurt the United States," the 25-year-old US Army Private First Class told the sentencing phase of his court-martial in a Fort Meade military court on Wednesday.

"I am sorry for the unintended consequences of my actions... The last few years have been a learning experience."

Bradley Manning broke his silence Wednesday, taking the stand, pulling out a piece of paper, and reading a statement in which he apologized for the leaks, which he said hurt people and the United States.

Manning said he understands he must pay a price for what he did, but hopes to one day move on and go to college. He asked the judge to give him an opportunity to prove himself a good person.

His statement followed testimony by a military psychiatrist who said Manning suffers from a series of emotional problems including a gender identity disorder and symptoms of autism. The psychiatrist also said Manning suffered problems related to fetal alcohol syndrome resulting from his mother's heavy drinking while she was pregnant with him.

Manning was convicted last month of leaking U.S. diplomatic cables, military communications, and video material while serving as an army intelligence analyst in Iraq, in what is described as the largest leak of secret U.S. government files in history.

He was acquitted of the more serious charge of aiding the enemy, which carried a possible life sentence. He still faces 90 years in prison on the charges for which he was convicted.

Throughout the court martial, which began in early June, the defense has tried to present Manning not as a traitor but as a whistleblower who sought to expose what he believed was wrongdoing by the U.S. government.

Manning's lawyers hope his apology and other testimony during the sentencing phase will help convince the judge that he was naïve, immature, well meaning, and suffering from conditions beyond his control.

The judge is expected to read Manning's sentence in the coming days.

Manning faces up to 90 years in prison for providing more than 700,000 documents, battle videos and diplomatic cables to WikiLeaks, hurling the pro-transparency website and its founder, Julian Assange, into the world spotlight.